Colonel Pham Quang Chien, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Military Ship Design Institute, said that since the task of researching, designing and manufacturing the USV was assigned, the Party Committee of the Military Ship Design Institute determined that this was not only a new, difficult and unprecedented scientific topic, but also a truly "big battle" of the unit in the period of promoting innovation.

Colonel Pham Quang Chien, Director of the Military Ship Design Institute, tested the unmanned suicide boat, May 2025.

The mission is of a special nature: It is both high-tech and directly related to the requirements of modernizing weapons and equipment, so it requires unified, decisive and comprehensive leadership from the Party Committee. The Party Committee has included the USV mission in the leadership resolution, considering it a focus for the two years 2024-2025 and a breakthrough to improve the research and design capacity of the Institute. The consistent guiding spirit is that no matter how difficult it is, it must be done, and no matter how lacking, find ways to supplement, because mastering the USV is mastering a new direction of combat that is taking shape in the world .

From the above policy, the direction work was proactively and resolutely implemented, solving any problems or difficulties immediately; concentrating all material resources and the best professional staff to carry out the task. The task was chaired by the Director, and assigned a Deputy Director to directly direct at the scene, immediately resolving any problems arising during the integration and testing process.

Thanks to the focused and coordinated direction, the entire Institute has mobilized the most elite forces. The "USV Team" was established with a structure similar to a combat formation: Feature group, machine group, mechanical group, control group, data transmission and reception group, camera group, image processing, artificial intelligence (AI)... Each group both independently researches and closely coordinates, creating a continuous flow of information, solutions and testing. Many technical meetings last until late at night; at many times the Party Committee has to make conclusions right at the testing site to adjust the design plan, change the control algorithm or handle incident situations.

The failures during the test run, from the boat losing control and spinning in the middle of the test site, to ventilation and cooling problems that damaged the prototype, were all major challenges for the research team. But at those times, the leadership and ideological orientation role of the Party Committee became even more evident. The Institute's Party Committee promptly encouraged the spirit, strengthened the will, created calmness and sobriety to analyze the cause, rewrite each line of code, resolder each component, and test again and again until the requirements were met. Colonel, Dr. Luong Luc Quynh, Deputy Director of the Institute directly in charge of the scene, confided: "Failure is a part of science . The more we fail, the more our professional self-esteem and the desire to assert ourselves as scientists will not allow us to stop."

Along with that, the Party Committee of the Institute especially attaches importance to the mechanism of encouragement and extraordinary rewards for individuals who overcome difficulties and solve technical "bottlenecks". Thanks to the correct and decisive leadership, the USV mission is no longer a single topic but becomes a vivid practical educational process, where each cadre and party member is trained in courage, intelligence and the spirit of daring to think and daring to do; where the strength of the party organization is proven by the scientific results achieved.

Military Ship Design Institute staff inspect scientific research products, May 2025.

From a bold idea to a complete prototype, the USV has become the most convincing proof of the Military Ship Design Institute's ability to master modern technology; at the same time, it also shows the central role of the Party Committee in arousing, leading and organizing collective intelligence. In terms of science and technology, the USV is a product with a very high level of complexity, especially in the control components, data transmission, satellite positioning, image processing and system integration. The successful manufacture of the USV model is the first time Vietnam has mastered an unmanned combat vehicle on the water surface that is capable of secret operations, high mobility, real-time image transmission, and much lower cost than the combat target. This is a breakthrough in design level, a clear demonstration that the Institute's scientific staff, with more than 60% of them having postgraduate training, are fully capable of conquering new technological fields, requiring creativity and interdisciplinary knowledge.

Colonel, MSc. Le Anh Tuan, Party Secretary, Political Commissar of the Institute, assessed: Not only creating a strategic product, the USV mission also contributes significantly to the maturation process of the young cadres. When faced with consecutive challenges, forced to try and make mistakes, analyze, correct... young cadres quickly mature in professional capacity and scientific courage. This is the strategic resource that the Institute is aiming for in the new term goals: Improving the design capacity, developing 3-5 types of new, modern, highly innovative weapons and technical equipment.

From the USV story, it can be affirmed that when the Party organization leads in the right direction, knows how to promote collective intelligence and create an environment for dedicated cadres, science and technology will become a strong driving force for innovation. That success not only increases the position of the Military Ship Design Institute in the field of defense industry but also contributes practically to the goal of building a revolutionary, disciplined, elite and modern Vietnam People's Army.

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/quoc-phong-an-ninh/xay-dung-quan-doi/suc-bat-tu-mot-tran-danh-lon-1014257